In medium bowl, mix 1 c. of the flour, yeast and salt. Add water (warm to temperature recommended by yeast pkg) and shortening. Mix by hand till somewhat smooth. Gradually add remaining flour to make stiff dough. Let rest 15 min. covered. With well greased hands, press dough in a greased 12 or 14 pizza pan. Top as desired. Bake at 400 deg F 25-30 min till golden and crisp on edges. Serve immediately. Can freeze unbaked pizza, thaw and bake when needed.
Saute peppers and garlic in oil 10 minutes till soft, but still with some texture. Add seasonings.
Cut eggplant in half, lengthwise. Cut long slash in middle of each half without cutting through skin. Place cut side down on baking dish. Bake in preheated 450 deg F oven 20-30 minutes until tender and skin shrivels. Cool, slice crosswise. You can also just saute raw slices in olive oil until tender
Saute garlic in 1 T. olive oil over low until it just starts to turn golden. Add tomatoes. Cook 5 min. over low. Add spices. Spread sauce on dough, then arrange eggplant on top.

SO HOW'D IT GO?

I made my own pizza crust and used a store bought sauce(which was vegan, obviously.) I used one red bell pepper, onion, garlic, fresh diced tomatoes and eggplant for the topping. I sauteed everything just like it said before adding it on top and then cooked my pizza for like 10 min & it came out really flavorful.

So yeah, I tweaked this recipe quite a bit but I thought the general idea of the eggplant and whatnot on a pizza sounded really good. :)

i messed around with this recipe as i usually do.i used my own pizza crust recipe that i trust.this amount of ingredients would feed like 16 people! so i only used 1/2 bell pepper, about pound of tomatoes (skinned, drained) and 1/2 lb eggplant. i also didn't saute anything because of the lack of time and i don't like to overcook my veggies. i sliced everything the way i liked and added about 1/4 onion. yum! the combination of this topping is perfect. oh, and a teaspoon or so of nutritional yeast hits the spot!